Water in the City: Green Infrastructure in the Urban Landscape

Water in the City

Green Infrastructure in the Urban Landscape

World Water Day Panel Discussion
Date: March 19, 2018 – Registration Opens @ 6:30pm
Location: Centre for Social Innovation – Annex Garage
720 Bathurst St., Toronto

*For the full agenda and further details of the event please click here.

ABOUT THIS EVENT

Each year, in celebration of World Water Day, Canadian Water Resources Association’s Ontario Branch hosts a moderated expert panel discussion. The goal is to bring together a broad spectrum of professionals to create a dialogue around issues of effective water management, in the context of the United Nation’s annual World Water Day Theme. This year’s theme is Water and Nature. We will be looking at this theme through the lens of Water Management Challenges in Urban Centres, seeking insight on solutions that work within our urbanized landscape as ‘natural’ systems.

The evening is centered around a moderated panel of experts, whose perspectives will be drawn from careers in fields such as urban planning and policy development, water resources engineering, first nations stakeholder engagement and natural heritage preservation and advocacy. After the talk, please join us to continue the discussion and meet diverse professionals at our networking session.

This event will be catered and licensed. Cole Engineering is the catering sponsor for the event. All proceeds from beer and wine sales go towards the event.

Online registration for the event can be found here.

EVENT LINEUP

Event Moderator:  Lesley Herstein (WaterTAP)

Panelists:

• Sheila Boudreau, RPP, MCIP, OALA, CSLA (Toronto and Region Conservation)
• Deborah Martin-Downs, M.Sc. (Credit Valley Conservation)
• Chris Denich, P.Eng. (Aquafor Beech Limited)
• Cathie Jamieson, Councillor (Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation)

Panel Biographies

Sheila Boudreau

As the Senior Landscape Architect at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Sheila has over 20 years of professional experience in both the private and public sectors (most recently as an urban designer in City Planning, City of Toronto). Her work includes: the development of guidelines and standards; the design and construction of innovative green infrastructure pilot projects and program development; site plan development review; and the coordination of interdisciplinary working groups with community engagement. Examples of projects include: City of Toronto Green Streets Technical Guidelines, Evergreen Brick Works, and Waterfront Toronto Water’s Edge Promenade. She teaches courses on green infrastructure at Ryerson University and the University of Toronto, is on the Board of Advisors for Ryerson Urban Water and represents the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects on the Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition steering committee. With Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation funding, she is currently co-leading a project aimed at increasing the voice of Indigenous youth in green infrastructure.

Lesley Herstein

As Manager of policy at WaterTAP, Lesley works with companies and other water sector partners to determine how to benefit from and mitigate the effects of changes in government policy, regulations, and programs. She also plays a role in WaterTAP’s efforts to collaborate with private and public stakeholders to improve water management in Ontario by addressing challenges to the adoption of innovative water solutions. Lesley’s water-related experience includes working with a water technology start-up to develop and test a remote water monitoring device for drinking water systems, and working in Chennai, India, to develop an inexpensive mapping method to map, track, and address water-related health issues in remote villages. She holds a Biosystems Engineering degree and a Masters and PhD in Civil Engineering.

Deborah Martin-Downs

Deborah is the Chief Administrative Office of Credit Valley Conservation and the Chair of Green Infrastructure Ontario. Her 30-year career in the environmental community includes both private sector consulting and public sector, in-the-field postings. She holds her Masters Degree in Zoology and Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto and Bachelor of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo.

Chris Denich, P.Eng.

Mr. Denich is the Director of the Water Resource Engineering and Green Infrastructure division of Aquafor Beech Ltd. where he participates in a variety of municipal, private and public-sector projects focusing on stormwater management using innovative approaches for both retrofit and new developments. Mr. Denich is responsible for the planning, design and construction of more than fifty (50) LID and GI installations and projects across Canada, including several award winners, and has authored numerous SWM and LID standards and guidance documents, including recent updates to the Province of Ontario Stormwater Management Manual. He is considered an expert in LID, GI and Sustainable Stormwater Management by organization including Toronto Water, Canadian and Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), Credit Valley Conservation (CVC), Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority (LSRCA), the Alberta Low Impact Development Partnership (ALIDP), Sustainable Building Canada (SBC), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Interlocking Concrete Paving Institute (ICPI)  and others.

Cathie Jamieson

Ms. Jamieson is from the Bear Clan and is an elected bank Councillor from the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation. She holds the following positions: Chair: Education & Social Health Services Council; Chair: MNCFN Employment and Training Board; Co-Chair: Aboriginal Labour force; Development Circle Board Member; Member: MNCFN – Land Claims Team; Member: Ganawenjigejik Niibi Bemaadiziwin Water Committee; Councillor Lead on Strategic plan – Pillar 3: Environment Sustainability; Stewards of Our Air, Land, Water & Natural Resources. Born and raised within the MNCFN Community, Cathie graduated with Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree and diploma – a specialist in Art & Art History, from the University of Toronto and Sheridan College. She is multi-disciplined in art and exploring the concepts of Indigenous identity though historical and contemporary representation. This helps within the reflection of current position within the political frame work of First Nation governance, as well as the systems of intergenerational influences that impact First Nations communities, and drawing back to the community framework to throttle forth change. Ms. Jamieson also works as a youth advocate and is one of the founding members of ‘Alternative Roots’ a grassroots support group with efforts to get youth away from drugs and alcohol.